Here's a more common one of Mike Tyson, but it's my favorite Tyson highlight video because it actually shows some of his defensive movements. They are similar to Marciano's, but when Tyson did it it seems like he has to make himself do it, whereas Marciano seemed more relaxed, but that does speak highly of Tyson's reflexes. Marciano is commonly rated in people's top 3 boxers list, along with Ali and Joe Louis. I think Mike Tyson is very commonly underrated.

In the early years Tyson's defensive work was second to none. He was great at the bob and weave type of defense we see here. But after the championship was his and his personal life started to deteriorate, he threw out the defensive work and decided he was bad enough he didn't need to set his opponent up before knocking him out.
I think Tyson is underrated too. He could have been one of the best ever.

Last edited by OZZ; 9/11/2008 9:57am at .

" If one wants to have a friend one must also want to wage war for him: and to wage war one must be capable of being an enemy." - Fr. Nietzsche 'On The Friend' Thus Spake Zarathustra

You didn't do anything wrong, it's just that this thread is about discussing a video on Rocky Marciano's defense delicacies.

Bullshido has a video thread, however, ready for quality stuff like a Sugar Ray HL truly is.

CLICK & WATCH: I got BULLSHIDO ON TV!!!
"Bruce Lee sucks because I slammed my nuts with nunchucks trying to do that stupid **** back in the day. I still managed to have two kids. I forgive you Bruce." - by Vorpal

Thanks for posting that vid. It's always nice to see more of Rocky. However, (and I don't mean to be a buzz kill), but all those vids tell me is that he didn't get hit with every punch thrown at him. If you've seen pics or interviews after his fights you know he got hit A LOT. It's not for guys like me to be too critical, but he bends at the waist an awful lot and feints seemed to work pretty well against him. The comparison with Tyson is a little much IMO because Tyson's defense was a lot tighter and more technical than Marciano's. I suspect that if he wanted to he could have tightened up his defense because he did have good timing and reflexes etc, but I think he wanted to put as much effort as he could into offense and so didn't worry about defense they way Moore or Pep or Sweet Pea did. It just wasn't a big part of his game.

I always loved watching Marciano's fights. Sluggin it the **** out! The only criticism is that he bends at the waist instead of at the knees.

I had always heard that since he was considered a "small" heavyweight he was able to get away with this.

Originally Posted by OZZ

In the early years Tyson's defensive work was second to none. He was great at the bob and weave type of defense we see here. But after the championship was his and his personal life started to deteriorate, he threw out the defensive work and decided he was bad enough he didn't need to set his opponent up before knocking him out.
I think Tyson is underrated too. He could have been one of the best ever.

A good portion of Tyson's defensive abilities was his usage of the Gene Fullmer/ George Foreman cross-arm defense that he picked up from watching the old films at D'Amatos.

Im suprised at the lack of mention of Jack Dempsey. Seems to be relativley the same techniques that made him so great. Go in low, roll around, and them slam a hooks and uppercuts. Dempsey was pretty light in his early career as well. Around 185 when he fought Willard I do believe.

You can tell Marciano must've been a big Dempsey fan. Its kinda sad that like, 30 years later when Rocky was fighting pro. Noone even notices the similarities between the two.